Activation Policies for the Poor in OIC Member States
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resources, a lack of capacity to add value to its agricultural products, or to extend the life of products,
constrains the revenue that this sector is currently generating. The agricultural sector is also
constrained by a lack of modern technology. However, the frequent power cuts experienced in
Cameroon can halt production if modern tools require electricity to be operated.
The need to focus on activation and the role of employment in poverty alleviation has been
recognised by the government for the last ten years. Following the 2004 Extraordinary Summit of
the African Union on employment and poverty reduction in Africa, the Cameroonian government
(and other African governments) committed itself to promoting employment in its social and
economic policies. Since then, employment promotion has been a key government priority. This is
illustrated in the government’s most recent poverty reduction strategy paper for the period 2010-
2020, which emphasises the role employment plays in poverty reduction. The ‘Growth and
employment strategy paper’ has set the following targets with regards to employment and poverty
alleviation, to be achieved by 2020:
 Increase the average annual growth rate to 5.5%
 Reduce the underemployment rate to less than 50%
 Reduce the income poverty rate to 28.7%
The strategy to achieve these targets includes developing the country’s infrastructure, modernising
production mechanisms and investing in human development. Other strategies include the
promotion of self employment and the development of the private sector, as well as the
formalisation of informal sector jobs. The government is also favouring labour intensive approaches
in its large infrastructure projects. This means that construction methods utilising labour-based
technologies are favoured above those that utilise equipment instead of manpower where it is
economical to do so. The government has a target of utilising 20% of investment on infrastructure
projects on labour intensive approaches.
3.3.2 Design and performance of the current activation policies and programmes
The country has a large public sector with over 30 ministries. Since the government made its
commitment to promote employment, each ministry has been tasked with prioritising employment.
This has led to each ministry developing and implementing employment projects, causing
duplication due to a lack of coordination. This consequence has now been recognised and an inter-
ministerial committee has been set up in an attempt to facilitate the coordination of projects. The
ILO is promoting the creation of a ‘One Stop Shop’ approach to facilitate coordination further.
Activation projects are also delivered by Cameroon’s PES, the National Employment Fund (FNE). The
organisation is responsible for delivering job search support services.
As well as the projects delivered by government ministries, there are many activation projects
delivered by NGOs, agencies such as the ILO, and IFIs such as the African Development Bank. A
common feature shared by activation projects, whether they are delivered by the government or
other organisations, is that the poor are not a directly targeted group. Instead, projects target
population groups whose characteristics mean that they are more likely to experience poverty, such
as rural agricultural workers, women or young people. In certain cases, projects designed to alleviate
poverty do not necessarily benefit the poorest directly because individuals such as local leaders are
better able to position themselves to benefit from development projects. However, even if the
poorest are not always the immediate beneficiaries of a project, the trickle down effect means that
the poor still benefit from the projects even if indirectly.
Job search support
The FNE is the operational arm of the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training. The FNE
delivers several employment programmes targeted at different types of jobseekers. There is a